Ania Vu | Composer, Pianist

ABOUT

Polish of Vietnamese descent composer and pianist, Ania Vu (née Vũ Đặng Minh Anh) writes music that explores the interplay between the sound properties and meanings of the words, musical energy related to form, and varied notions of time. She also composes text that then guides her musical writing process. Currently, Ania is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania and a Composer Fellow at the Composers & the Voice, a two-year training program that provides experience writing for the voice and opera stage. In 2017, she received her B.M. in composition and theory from the Eastman School of Music.

Winner of the Boston New Music Initiative's 9th Annual Commissioning Competition (2021) and prize recipient of the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra's Call for Scores (2020), Ania has worked with leading new music ensembles and musicians, including the Daedalus and Mivos string quartets, Sō Percussion, the TAK, International Contemporary and Kamratōn Ensembles, the Iridium Saxophone Quartet, and sopranos Rose Hegele and Paulina Swierczek. She has received recognition and fellowships from ASCAP, the American Opera Project, Tanglewood, the I-Park Foundation, Inc., and her music has been featured at festivals and conferences, including the Research on Contemporary Composition (USA), ISCM's Virtual Collaboration Series, Tage Neuer Musik in Regensburg (Germany), Society of Composers, Inc. (USA), College Music Society conferences (USA), International New Music Festival at the University of South Florida, Red Note New Music Festival (USA), Newburyport Chamber Music Festival (USA), Valencia International Performance Academy (Spain), and SoundSCAPE (Italy).

Ania is also an accomplished pianist and passionate music educator. For more information about her piano background, performances and teaching, please scroll down to Piano.

Outside of music, Ania has a deep interest in languages, and speaks fluent English, Polish, French, and Vietnamese, in addition to having studied Latin and German; currently, she is learning modern Greek. She also enjoys traveling - having visited 30 countries so far -, wandering in all kinds of museums, and ballroom dancing.

NEWS

2022

January 5

Broadway World: Sparks & Wiry Cries to Present All-Virtual, Free 2022 SongSLAM Festival. Read here.

2021

September 15

The American Opera Project announces Fellows for its 11th Season of Composers & the Voice training program. Read here.

August 28

Tik-Tak, submitted by the Vietnam Contemporary Music Centre, is featured on the ISCM Virtual Collaborative Series. Read and listen here.

August 12

Shoutout LA is featuring me and my work in their magazine. Read here.

July 15

The Daily Pennsylvanian writes an article about The Sachs Program's AAPI artist grant recipients and about my supported project, a chamber opera Through the Doors. Read here.

June 20

I was invited by the Vietnamese American Society for Creative Arts and Music (VASCAM) to present about my music as part of the Talk Art Series. Watch here.

May 12

Through the Doors - an opera for Chamber Ensemble, Multimedia and Electronics, receives a grant award from The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation. So far, this project has also received the SASgov Research Grant and the Albrecht Dissertation Research Award.

May 2

A Score-Video of me playing Dark Whims is now on George N. Gianopoulos's YouTube Channel.

April 25

I wrote a blog post "Music, words, and time" where I discuss my recent work on Illuminate Women's Music. Read here.

April 19

Tik-Tak wins the Boston New Music Initiative's 9th Annual Commissioning Competition, and was selected by an outside panel of industry professionals from an anonymous pool of almost 100 compositions. I will write a new piece for Pierrot + percussion + soprano that will premiere in June 2022.

April 10

Against Time is now available as a Score-Video on George N. Gianopoulos's YouTube Channel!

March 31

Molly Petrilla from the The Pennsylvania Gazette wrote an article about my work and thoughts on being a composer during the pandemic. Read here.

March 22

Tik-Tak is featured at the CMS Northeast Conference this, and receives the CMS Northeast Student Composition Award.

January 29

Tik-Tak is now available as a Score-Video on George N. Gianopoulos's YouTube Channel!

2020

October 30

The University of South Florida's New Music Consortium invited me to give an online presentation about my music. My topic was Writing Text to Write Music. Watch here.

September 9

Five in One is now available as a Score-Video on George N. Gianopoulos's YouTube Channel! Watch here.

September 1

Dragonflies receives Fourth Prize at the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra's Call for Scores.
The piece will be performed by the MANA Quartet during their 20/21 season.

July 6 - August 17

Online participation at the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC).

May 31

Thank you, Nguyễn Bình from Viet Nam News, for writing an article about my interest in music and languages. Read here.

May 7

Big thanks to the Vietnamese newspaper Dân Trí for writing an article about me and my work. Read here. (Disclaimer: it's in Vietnamese!)

EVENTS

UPCOMING

All event times are in the Eastern Timezone.

2022

June 22-August 15

Ania attends Tanglewood as a Composer Fellow.

June 5, 7PM

Premiere of a new piece commissioned by the Boston New Music Initiative, location TBD.

June 4, 8PM

Premiere of a new piece commissioned by the Boston New Music Initiative, University Lutheran, Cambridge, MA.

PAST

January 13, 7PM

Ania and soprano Paulina Swierczek present four songs at the songSLAM Festival 2022. Watch here.

2021

November 10, 5PM

Ania is invited to perform a recital of her music, Across Cultures and Time, an event hosted by Penn's Wolf Humanities Center. She is joined by soprano Paulina Swierczek and percussionist Alyssa Resh. Event and registration details can be found here.

October 30th

Ania gives a presentation on the topic of Composing Text to Write Music at the Research on Contemporary Composition Conference, U. of North Georgia. In addition, her piece Sept Vignettes is performed Dr. Luca Lombardi.

October 18, 8PM

Ania is interviewed by Logan Barrett for a podcast hosted by CAMP (Contemporary Arts Music Project). Listen here.

October 3, 7:00PM & 8:30PM

Premiere of 2+ for Piano and Percussion, commissioned by Eunmi Ko and Robert McCormick,
Timucua Arts White House, 2000 South Summerlin, Orlando, FL.

September 29 - October 25

Ania is invited for a residency at I-Park Foundation, Inc.

September 23, 9PM

The Modern Notebook hosted by Tyler Kline at the WSMR, a classical station in Florida, streams Tik-Tak and discusses with the founders of CAMP the upcoming premiere of 2+. Read here.

August 28, 2:35PM

Ania gives a colloquium talk about her new piece Lost within Letters for soprano, alto flute and cello at the Society of Composers, Inc. National Student Conference.

August 21, 4:30PM

Premiere of Lost within Letters for Soprano, Alto Flute and Cello, commissioned by the Kamratōn Ensemble for the Society of Composers, Inc. National Student Conference.

June 20

Ania is invited to give a talk about her work at the VASCAM Talk Art Series 2021. Watch here.

March 20, 3:15PM

Streamed performance of Tik-Tak at the 2021 CMS Northeast Regional Conference (online).

February 17, 2:30PM

Ania performs all of her piano works: Piano Variations, Dark Whims, and Against Time on Illuminate Women's Music's Digital Series. Watch here.

January 9, 7PM

Streamed performance of Sept Vignettes by Maggie Cox, as part of the 2020 International New Music Festival, USF New Music Consortium. Watch here.

2020

December 20, 3PM

Virtual premiere of Dance Variations on a Theme by J.S.Bach for violin and cello, commissioned by the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival. Premiered by Nurit Pacht and Eliana Razzino Yang. Event details here.

December 4, 2:30PM

Performance of Sept Vignettes by Maggie Cox as part of the Illuminate Women's music digital concert. Watch here.

October 30, 11:15AM

Ania's invited by the New Music Consortium and the Composition Department at USF to present on her music. Watch here.

August 12, 5:00PM

Online premiere of Six Vignettes for solo Double Bass by Andres Vela as part of Tanglewood's Composition-Double Bass Collaboration.

July 6 - August 17

Ania participates at the Tanglewood Music Center (online) as a Composer Fellow.

May 5 (postponed due to COVID-19)

Ania premieres Joshua Hey's multimedia theater Derendered with members of the Arcana Ensemble, Philadelphia, PA

April 23, 7:00PM (postponed due to COVID-19)

Ania and Paulina Swierczek are invited by the Skalny Center to perform a recital of Chopin's works. Hatch Hall, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY

April 18, 7:30PM (postponed due to COVID-19)

Premiere of a new piece by Sō Percussion. The Annenberg Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

April 3, 7:30PM (now online due to COVID-19)

Performance of Five in One by a student ensemble at the 2020 International New Music Festival.
University of South Florida, FL

March 7, 5PM

Ania performs her pieces Against Time and Dark Whims, and Joshua Hey's afterimage at the 2020 CMS Northeast Conference at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

February 15, 8PM

Performance of a może... by Rose Hegele, Wesley Fowler, and Jack Yarbrough at the New Music Festival in Boston Conservatory at Berklee, MA

January 25, 7:30PM

Performance of Against Time at the HfKM-Regensburg Tage Neuer Musik 2020.
Konzertsaal der HfKM Regensburg, Germany

2019

December 12, 8PM

Full premiere of I yearn, therefore I am by the Daedalus Quartet. Ania also performs Groundwater by Flannery Cunningham and afterimage by Joshua Hey. Rose Recital Hall, University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA

November 15, 12PM

Premiere of I yearn, therefore I am by the Daedalus Quartet. Kelly Writers' House, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

November 2, 1PM

Ania performs Against Time at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, PA

July 11, 7:30PM

Premiere of String Quartet no.2 by the Mivos Quartet at La Mutant, Valencia, Spain

May 19, 1PM

Ania performs Kurtag's Hommage à R. Schumann trio at the Curtis Summerfest. Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA

April 5, 7:30PM

An Evening of Polish Music - Ania and soprano Paulina Swierczek perform works by Chopin, Lutoslawski, Szymanowski, and Ania, among others. Event hosted by the Skalny Center. Interfaith Chapel, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

March 16, 8PM

Premiere of Tik-Tak by the TAK ensemble. Arch Auditorium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

February 13, 7:30PM

Premiere of Dragonflies by Iridium Saxophone Quartet at the Red Note New Music Workshop, Illinois State University, Normal, IL

MUSIC

In progress

Through the Doors - an opera for chamber ensemble, multimedia, and electronics

2021

hushed, muted for Percussion Quartet

C-c-can you h-h[ ]r me now? for Clarinet and Piano

adrift for solo Vibraphone

Lost within Letters for Soprano, Alto Flute and Cello

2+ for Percussion, Piano and fixed media

t(h)rills for solo Viola/solo Cello

2020

Dance Variations on a Theme by J.S.Bach for Violin and Cello

Sept Vignettes for solo Double Bass

2019

I yearn, therefore I am for String Quartet

String Quartet no. 2

Tik-Tak for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Percussion

Dragonfliesfor Saxophone Quartet

2018

Gra dźwięków, gra słów (Soundplay, wordplay) for Female Voice, Percussion, and Piano

Five in One for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano

Against Time for solo Piano

2017

Symphonic Suite for Orchestra

Fantasia for Orchestra

2016

String Quartet no. 1, four movements

Raindrops for Fixed Media

2015

Dark Whims for Piano, arranged for Wind Ensemble

Mrs. and Mr. Potato Headsfor Flute and Bassoon

Espace for solo Piano

2014

Paroles du Chagrin for Soprano and Piano

Dark Whims for solo Piano

Earliest Works

Piano Variations [2012]

Somewhere over the Clouds for Saxophone Soprano and Piano [2012]

PIANO

Aside from being a composer, Ania is also an active pianist performing solo and chamber music, both in standard and contemporary repertoire. She loves performing new music, and has collaborated with a number of her composition colleagues and premiered their works, in addition to performing her own music. She has been invited by UPenn's Wolf Humanities Center to perform an autobigoraphical recital, Illuminate Women's Music (UK) to present her solo piano works, and by the University of Rochester's Skalny Center to perform a recital of music by Polish composers. She has studied with Vincent Lenti, Irina Rumiancewa-Dabrowski, and her mother Hong Anh Dang and has taken lessons and masterclasses with Amy Yang, Dang Thai Son, Wojciech Świtała, Thomas Rosenkranz, Andrzej Jasiński, Philippe Giusiano, and Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń. As a pianist, she has won several awards in national and international competitions in Europe, and has performed in the United States, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Vietnam, and Poland.

Ania draws great satisfaction from being a music educator, teaching piano and music theory. She maintains a piano studio of students of all ages and various skill levels. At the University of Pennsylvania, she has taught an introductory course to music theory and musicianship, and an intermediate-level ear training and keyboard skills lab. In June 2015, she participated in a program where selected musicians traveled to Zimbabwe and South Africa to perform and teach high school students.

Ania Vu - Recital of her piano works

[YouTube]

GALLERY

CONTACT

For more information or inquiries about scores, commissions, performances, or taking lessons in composition, piano, music theory/aural skills, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at ania.vu94@gmail.com.